Re: Vitamin D Supplement

Before you go the supplement route, it might make sense to decide whether or not you need them. Light-skinned people who get some outside time every day or nearly every day (even 15 minutes is supposed to be enough) with either no sunblock or minimal sunblock probably don't need a supplement. If your kids are dark-skinned, always use sunblock, or spend most of their time indoors, a supplement may be a good idea.

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

We use enfamil's (D Vi Sol). It's been OK, but now that I'm more informed I want to switch to something else that has fewer fillers/flavors in it. In every other area of my life we don't use artificial flavors or excess sweeteners, so I'm a little mad at myself about this stuff. When we're done with this bottle I'm going to try the carlson labs drops, no added stuff, and it's a very small dose (a drop, vs. a dropperful)

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

Originally Posted by @llli*mommal

Before you go the supplement route, it might make sense to decide whether or not you need them. Light-skinned people who get some outside time every day or nearly every day (even 15 minutes is supposed to be enough) with either no sunblock or minimal sunblock probably don't need a supplement. If your kids are dark-skinned, always use sunblock, or spend most of their time indoors, a supplement may be a good idea.

Sunlight is the very best way to get your vitamin D. Vitamin D is very important, so I would give the baby a supplement if you don't get much sun exposure or have dark skin (pigments block vitamin D synthesis). I give my baby a supplement in the winter because even though we are out, we are pretty well covered, but I don't bother in the summer. I go out without sunblock, but bring some along in case we are out for a very long time.

Carlson vitamin D drops only require a single drop, so you aren't giving so many additives if you choose to supplement.

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

At DS' 2-week check-up the ped said that it's now recommended that BF babies take Vit D supplements; she dropped my prescription and when I picked it up at the pharm it was a multi-vitamin (in a dropper).

We tried giving this to him a little at a time and he ALWAYS spits it up.

I did my research. First, it must just be the "big thing" in the field (I firmly believe the medical/health field goes through trends and fads, too) because if you notice all the formula ads are now touting how they've added Vit D. Then I was reading how one, it's actually a hormone not a true vitamin; hence why your body is designed to manufacture it yourself from the sun through your skin. And how your body can store it so it's not essential every day; if mom was getting plenty while pregnant, babies have adequate stores after they're born. There is Vit D in your BM that is more easily absorbed by baby than any supplement, and the rest can be gotten from 5-10 minutes' exposure of the arms and legs 2-3 times a week.

It's a different case if baby has been tested and is all-out deficient. But I think there's a trend for peds to suggest it to their patients regardless of whether it's "needed" or not.

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

The term vitamin simply refers to an essential compound that the body cannot sufficiently manufacture on it's own; so a hormone can also be a vitamin.

I wouldn't call this a fad or a trend. The AAP recommends vitamin D supplements because the vast majority of Americans are vitamin D deficient as we don't get outside enough and wear sunblock when we do go out. Plus an enormous volume of research is showing that vitamin D plays a role in far more than just bone health, including (but not limited to) immune system, neurological, and cardiovascular health. Because vitamin D is so important and deficiency is so widespread, the recommendation to supplement is warranted.

I've linked to this before, but I think it provides an excellent review of the current status of vitamin D so I'm reposting:

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

Also - I don't think there is any evidence that the small quantities of vitamin D in breast milk is more easily absorbed. All research that I've seen shows that the form of vitamin D produced by sun exposure is superior to forms present in dietary sources (including supplements).

ETA: Of course I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the literature on this subject so I'm certainly open to the idea if you can point me to a source on this.

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

This is an interesting issue. I was at a breastfeeding conference a couple of years ago where two breastfeeding experts, both pediatricians, faced off on this issue, one saying he thought the AAP recommendation was definitely warranted for the general public, the other questioning if it was needed for everyone. His prime objection was also mine-that somehow this recommendation is being (mis)interpreted by some as suggesting that breastmilk is somehow "deficient' and that is not the issue.

To give a breastfed baby Vitamin D supplements, I suggest choosing a brand that contains the recommended daily dose in a single drop. These are Vitamin D ONLY drops. Easier for everyone and will not interfere with breastfeeding in any way or give your baby extra supplements they do not necessarily need. If your doctor will not prescribe these you can get them on your own, you don’t need a prescription for vitamins.

It is true the AAP started recommending Vit. D supplements of 400 iu per day for ALL babies and children in 2008. So of course formula companies started adding more Vit D supplements to formula so it would already be in there at the recommended levels and they could market it as a plus.

This is a general society wide recommendation as all such recommendations are, and our society varies greatly in terms of lifestyle, skin tone, and closeness to the equator, all of which affects our ability to absorb enough sunlight to get enough Vitamin D that way. It’s not that breastmilk does not have 'enough" Vitamin D, nor is the issue how well it is absorbed. The issue with Vitamin D deficiency actually has nothing to do with breastmilk. It has to do with changes in lifestyle, global movements of people, (darker skinned people moving away from the equator and lighter skinned people moving closer to the equator) the use (some would say overuse) of sunscreen, and clothing choices that cover much of the body. This is affecting the entire population including ALL babies and babies IN UTERO. Basically what is happening is large numbers of babies are being born without enough Vitamin D because their moms are Vitamin D deficient, and then due to all the above factors we (all people, breastfed or not) continue to not, in general, get enough sun exposure and thus Vitamin D in general.

And yes new research shows adequate Vitamin D is extremely important for overall health, much more important than previously understood.

Re: Vitamin D Supplement

Originally Posted by @llli*phi

Also - I don't think there is any evidence that the small quantities of vitamin D in breast milk is more easily absorbed. All research that I've seen shows that the form of vitamin D produced by sun exposure is superior to forms present in dietary sources (including supplements).

ETA: Of course I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the literature on this subject so I'm certainly open to the idea if you can point me to a source on this.

Phi, I think this is actually just a given in terms of nutrition and the way it works. Things that we eat, we naturally absorb things that are naturally there better and more completely than when things are fortified with something. We as humans all naturally absorb way more vitamins from fruits and veggies than we do from vitamin supplements that we take. So it stand to reason that an infant that is only designed to take in breastmilk, and truly that is all an infant is designed to eat WOULD absorb Vit D from breastmilk better than any synthetic drop given.